Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) punched out an email blast to Democratic Primary voters in New Jersey asking them to vote for U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12).

“On the merits, Rush Holt deserves to be a U.S. Senator,” said Green, a Central Jersey native. “But today’s Senate race won’t be decided on the merits. It will be decided by who has the highest name recognition on a sleepy summer Election Day. We all know who that is, and that’s why the PCCC did not get actively involved in this election.”

The five candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in the 5th Congressional District special election will participate in an online debate Saturday, Aug. 10, sponsored by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The debate starts at 11 a.m. and can be seen on www.opendebatequestions.com. The five candidates are state Sens. William Brownsberger, D-Belmont, Katherine Clark, D-Melrose, and Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, state Rep. Carl Sciortino, D-Medford, and Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian. They are looking to fill the seat Edward Markey vacated after he was elected to the U.S. Senate in June.

Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in a statement to Civil Beat, “Every week, we hear about corporations that cut the pensions they promised to workers. As a result, Social Security has never been more important. Senator Harkin’s bill, which Senator Brian Schatz was among the first to support, will expand Social Security benefits for our grandparents and veterans. And by requiring the wealthy to pay the same rate into Social Security as the rest of us, Harkin and Schatz would pay for the benefit increase and have trillions left over to keep Social Security strong for decades.ai??? Last week, the group pushed the idea at rallies in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas.

It was Democrat versus Democrat at times during Iowa Senator Tom Harkinai??i??s event in a Des Moines retirement center Tuesday. But a womanai??i??s emotional plea for help is what captured the attention of room full of dozens of retirees.

Harkin hosted the event with a number of Democratic-friendly groups, including the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans, Progress Iowa, The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy For America, MoveOn.org, Social Security Works, and Credo Action.

Harkin, as well as some speakers expressed frustration with President Barack Obamaai??i??s previous push to change the way the government determines the yearly increases in social security benefits.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee will be running a unique online debate on Saturday featuring all five Democratic candidates in the 5th Congressional District.

The debate, which will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, will be run through the website OpenDebateQuestions.com, which the PCCC is debuting for this event. The public will submit questions and then vote on which questions they like. Massachusetts voters will pick the top 50 questions, and moderators will choose from those questions to ask the candidates. The candidates will participate via video from remote locations. So far, people have submitted more than 300 questions.

A progressive group announced Tuesday morning theyai??i??ll be hosting a ai???first of itai??i??s kindai??? debate in Massachusettsai??i?? 5th congressional district, where five Democrats are vying to replace the seat now vacated by Sen. Ed Markey.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee says their ai???Open Debate,ai??? where all questions will be submitted and chosen by the public, could serve as a model in future races and someday (they hope) presidential races.

ai???Open Debates, where the public submits and votes on the questions, will hopefully be a game changer in our political process. What starts here in Massachusetts will hopefully become the norm for local, state, congressional, and even presidential debates in the future,ai??? said PCCC spokesman Matt Wall.

Five Democrats who are running to fill an open seat in the Fifth District of Massachusetts will participate in a novel interactive online debate format this Saturday, thanks to the efforts of a progressive group that’s been pushing to change the passive broadcast format of televised political debates for the past six years.

The five Democrats are running to fill Democratic Senator Ed Markey’s old seat in Massachusetts, an area that encompasses the suburbs to the north and west of Boston. They’ll be participating in a debate format that will include live questions from Massachusetts residents whose questions had been submitted online and voted up Reddit-style. Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor, co-founders of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and the organizers of the event, will moderate, and they’ll invite those whose questions received the most votes to participate.

Today, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is proud to announce that we will host a first-of-its-kind Open Debate in the special election for Congress in Massachusetts.

All 5 Democrats running in the primary to replace now-Senator Ed Markey in the House of Representatives have agreed to participate in our Open Debate, where the public submits and votes on the questions. This is also Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s home congressional district.

Open Debates will be a game changer in our political process — ensuring that questions get asked that the public actually cares about. What starts in Massachusetts will hopefully become the norm for local, state, congressional, and even presidential debates in the future.

The debate will be held Saturday, August 10, at 11am Eastern and will be broadcast live online at OpenDebateQuestions.com. At this site, the public can submit questions, vote, learn about the candidates, and sign up for a reminder to watch the debate.

While this debate is a first, the idea of Open Debates is not new. During the 2008 presidential campaign, I was happy to work with Internet guru (now Harvard Professor) Lawrence Lessig to lead an amazing alliance of progressives, conservatives, and techies who came together around the Open Debate Coalition. This coalition includedAi??MoveOn, DailyKos, Arianna Huffington, Grover Norquist, Newt Gingrich’s American Solutions, RedState, Craig from Craiglist, Jimmy Wales from Wikipedia, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Personal Democracy Forum, Aaron Swartz, and many others.

Our coalition had two core Open Debate principles:

1.Ai??Debates are for the benefit of the public. Therefore, the right to speak about the debates ought to be ai???ownedai??? by the public, not controlled by the media. [M]edia companies [should] release rights to presidential debate video to ensure that …

This past week, following the July 23rd national launch of our campaign to expand Social Security with Senators Tom Harkin and Mark Begich, we held four successful events – in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas – to talk about the senators’ plan to expand Social Security, and discuss new polling that shows voters overwhelmingly support expanding Social Security, not cutting it.

In Texas, Dr. Andrew Achenbaum of the University of Houston succinctly described Social Security as “the basic compact we all share against risks” and encouraged Texas Senator John Cornyn to consider supporting the Harkin/Begich plan.

In New Jersey, PCCC co-founder Adam Green challenged the frontrunner for Frank Lautenberg’s Senate seat, Cory Booker, to take a stand for Social Security outside of the statehouse in Trenton. (Booker responded later that day on Twitter, saying he opposes cutting Social Security and considers raising the retirement age to be a cut).

In Massachusetts, progressive elected leaders from the City of Cambridge and the Massachusetts General Assembly joined with activists to recognize that millions of Americans depend on Social Security today and millions more are expecting to be able to receive the benefits they’ve earned in the years to come.

And in Kentucky, PCCC’s Karissa Gerhke discussed new polling that shows voters in the Bluegrass State want Social Security protected and strengthened, not weakened.

Together with Democracy for America, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee asked five hundred and eighty five voters in Kentucky for their reaction to the Harkin/Begich plan. 51% of respondents said they supported increasing Social Security benefits, while only 24% were opposed.

Question: A proposal in Congress …

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, widely considered to be the frontrunner in the race to fill Frank Lautenberg’s Senate seat in New Jersey, said today that he is opposed to cutting Social Security benefits, including raising the retirement age.

At a midday Expand Social Security press conference conference in Trenton, at the New Jersey statehouse, PCCC co-founder Adam Green called on Booker to declare his support for expanding Social Security. PolitickerNJ reports:

ai???Social Security is more important than ever,ai??? said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

ai???Even in the red state of Kentucky, voters support the expansion of Social Security,ai??? he said. ai???There is no excuse for Democrats right here in the blue state of New Jersey not to.ai???

Green called out Newark Mayor Cory Booker by name, arguing itai??i??s especially important for the raceai??i??s frontrunner to ai???declare his supportai??? on the issue given Bookerai??i??s ties to Wall Street.

Following the press conference, Booker responded to a tweet from Jason Comstock, who asked, “Do you support cuts or other changes to Social Security or Medicare?” Booker replied, “No. None & if anything expand Social Security.”

read more…

Democratic New Jersey U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker said he supports expanding Social Security and Medicare hours following a press conference Thursday where his opponents challenged the popular Newark mayor on the issue.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee held a morning rally in Trenton with Booker’s opponents, Rep. Frank Pallone, Rep. Rush Holt and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver pressing Booker on the Social Security issue. Later Booker took to Twitter to say that he wants to expand, not cut Social Security and Medicare, and that he opposes raising the retirement age. A week ago Booker told NorthJersey.com that he would consider voting to raise the retirement age for those in their 20s or younger.

A coalition of liberal groups has launched a new push to increase Social Security benefits, defying President Obamaai??i??s call to cut the program.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), Democracy For America (DFA) and other groups announced the pushAi??on Wednesday.

They cited a new poll from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling showing majority support for increasing Social Security benefits and 62 percent support for raising taxes on higher-income earners to pay for it.

Now, as Obama prepares to deliver a major speech on the economy today, the scrappy activists who were until recently playing defense against cuts are turning around and pushing to increase Social Security benefits.

ai???Social Security is the most effective anti-poverty program in history. Forget cutting it ai??i?? we need to double down on success and make it even stronger,ai??? Jim Dean, the chair of Democracy for America will say in an email to supporters today.

The coalition of leading progressive groups, including the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America, Credo Action, MoveOn.org, Progressives United, and Social Security Works, are joining together to back a plan introduced by Democratic Sens. Tom Harkin and Mark Begich to boost benefits and shore up Social Securityai??i??s finances for the better part of the next century.

A coalition of progressive groups claiming to represent millions of Americans is planning a multi-state effort urging the expansion of Social Security benefits.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and Democracy For America (DFA say they will be joined by several other groups including MoveOn.org in putting out a series of TV and online ads planned for the near future.

The U.S. Senate is on the verge of failing students – again.

Weeks after allowing student loans to double, senators from both parties are introducing legislation that would send future students’ borrowing costs even higher.Ai?? Their proposal is worse than doing nothing – undergraduates could pay up to 8.25% interest rates and graduate students would pay even more. Current students would only be offered a teaser rate – and then their rates would go up too.

Thankfully, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is fighting back and standing up for students. Here’s what she had to say about this raw deal yesterday on the floor of the U.S. Senate:

“We should not go along with any plan that demands that our students continue to produce huge profits for the government… This is wrong.”

ai??i?? Senator Elizabeth Warren, July 18th, 2013

Senator Warren is doing her part to defeat this bad deal, but she needs our help.

IfAi??SenateAi??Democrats hear from voters today that they oppose this deal, we can stop it.

Can you make a call to your U.S. Senators and ask them to oppose the bad student loans deal? It’s easy and we’ll give you the right number to call, plus a few key points you can make.

An outpouring of public opposition will show Congress that students deserve better than to be used as profit centers, and embolden Democrats to side with students.

After the Democratic-led Senate on Thursday announced it had come to an agreement on interest rates on federal student loans, leaders hailed the deal as long-overdue. Progressive activists are grumbling the deal, which closely resembles the House Republican bill, would leave students worse off than doing nothing […] Liberals have adamantly opposed tying rates to the market, and even though the compromise sets caps for how high the rates can rise, activists think Democrats effectively caved to Republicans on the matter. “The Senate proposal on student loans treats students like an ATM,” Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) said in a statement, pointing out that if Congress simply did nothing, the interest rates would remain lower than the 10-year caps.

The group that led the movement to draft former Gov. Brian Schweitzer to run for the U.S. Senate now wants him to reconsider. On Saturday, Schweitzer told reporters he had decided not to run for the Senate because he wants to remain in Montana. Spearheading the effort is the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, based in Washington, D.C. The group said its ai???Draft Brian Schweitzerai??? effort recruited more than 600 Montana volunteers, raised more than $48,000 and gathered nearly 4,000 in-state supporters and 23,000 others nationally. ai???Conversations are happening at a very high level and organizing is happening at a very grass-roots level about urging Brian to reconsider,ai??? said Adam Green, co-founder of PCCC.

The Senateai??i??s bipartisan student loan compromise remains on track for passage, but movement will wait for next week, along with votes on alternatives that seem certain to fail. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., expressed frustration with the compromise thatai??i??s now expected to hit the Senate floor next week, noting prior proposals offered by Democrats wouldnai??i??t have raised interest rates… Some outside liberal groups, including the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, are joining in criticizing the compromise announced Wednesday night that is on track for Senate passage next week. ai???The Senate proposal on student loans treats students like an ATM,ai??? PCCC co-founder Stephanie Taylor said in a statement. ai???Rates will go up to 8.25% for undergraduates and 9.5% for graduates under the deal ai??i?? which is higher than if the Senate did nothing. Instead of pummeling students, Congress should listen to the more than 1,200 professors who support Sen. Warrenai??i??s bill and lower rates for students.ai???

After former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer announced he had decided against running for Senate in 2014, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee reached out to members across Montana to ask how they felt about Brianai??i??s decision. Folks responded to a survey asking if they agreed with the sentiments voiced at MontanaWantsBrian.com, which hosts an open letter to Schweitzer penned by several thoughtful supporters urging him to reconsider.

The results are in, and here’s what we found:

Should Brian reconsider running for Senate?

YES: 76%
NO: 22%

By more than a three to one margin, Draft Brian Schweitzer supporters believe Brian should reconsider running for the U.S. Senate in 2014. Here’s what just a few of them are saying:

“I think Brian would be a terrific Senator, especially at a time when Democrats need to hold the Senate. Our country needs someone of Brian’s character. I completely understand his not wanting to leave Montana, but sometimes duty calls.”
ai??i?? Ilene Standen, Poplar, MT

“I think we need a strong Democratic candidate and Brian is the one. He has appeal that crosses party lines and he understands the concerns of the majority of Montanans.”
ai??i?? Robin Jordan, Butte, MT

“I’m sad. We need to urge him to reconsider. His voice is exactly what the Senate needs ai??i?? no holds barred!”
ai??i?? Lyle Gillette, Deer Lodge, MT

“None of the other candidates bring a breath of fresh air as does Brian. ai??i?? Linda Ramirez, Clancy, MT

“My husband and I both believe we need Brian Schweitzer more than ever. He will stand up and fight. That is what we need in Washington.” ai??i?? Linda Woolsey, Hobson, MT

“It has become painfully obvious that our ‘elected representatives’ no longer represent the people. Brian did. We need him. The entire nation needs Brian Schweitzer.” ai??i?? Robin Maynard, Helena, MT

To show Brian the support there would be there if he …

More than 1,000 educators representing 568 institutions of higher education across the country have signed a petition to support Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warrenai??i??s student loan bill, effectively joining forces in the fight to lower interest rates on federal subsidized loans. Texas contributed 45 signatures to the petition, representing 24 of the Lone Star Stateai??i??s colleges and universities, including Texas A&M and University of Texas at Austin.

The letter, which will run in the Chronicle of Higher Education, was put out by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and other advocate groups; it demands that Congress work toward more affordable higher education opportunities for students across the country, especially those who come from lower and middle class backgrounds.

Last month, the United States Supreme Court struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act ai??i?? the law that gave the federal government the power to stop discrimination before it starts in states that have a history of voter discrimination. The VRA was a landmark achievement of the Civil Rights movement and one of the most successful pieces of legislation ever.

PBS has already reported that five Southern states ai???are already moving ahead with voter ID laws.ai???

Texas is planning to enact the very voter identification law that was struck down last year because it would “hurt turnout among minority voters” (TPM).

Representatives Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Mark Pocan (D-WI) are thinking bold. Theyai??i??ve introduced a Constitutional amendment that would reverse the Roberts Courtai??i??s decision ai??i?? and invalidate these bad state laws ai??i?? by guaranteeing every citizen the right to vote.

PCCC co-founder Adam Green is appearing on MSNBC’s The Cycle today at 3 PM Eastern/12 PM Pacific to talk about the amendment and protecting our right to vote with co-host Ari Melber, who wrote a post on the topic for Reuters today titled, “Renewing voting rights – with Roberts in mind.”

Past amendments to the U.S. Constitution have expanded suffrage to more Americans, but the Constitution currently lacks a provision guaranteeing all American citizens the right to vote in all elections held by their state and local governments.

Will you join the Progressive Change Campaign Committee in support of the effort to create a Right to Vote amendment?

Watch a short video Keith Ellison taped for PCCC members, read the text of the amendment, and become a citizen co-sponsor of the amendment here.

A stopgap bill that would have temporarily prevented the rate on Stafford student loans from doubling failed to advance yesterday in the U.S. Senate, despite enjoying the support of a majority of senators.

Fifty-two Democrats were ready to support a motion to proceed on S. 1238 (the Keep Student Loans Affordable Act of 2013) but the motion failed due to a Republican-led filibuster, leaving the bill in limbo.

Republicans are blaming Democrats for this failure, and the media is going along with it. If Congress doesn’t act, students will face thousands of dollars more in loans — dollars they can’t afford.

As Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Monday, “The Republican solution to higher interest rates is to make students pay even more…. We [Congress] shouldnai??i??t treat our students like a profit center.”

That’s why the PCCC has joined with over 1,000 professors across the country in sending a letter telling Congress: pass Senator Warrenai??i??s bill to let students borrow at the same low interest rates as the banks.

Our ad for the Chronicle. Note: Final version subject to change.

We will thrust professorsai??i?? voices into this debate at a key moment by publishing the letter in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The Chronicle is the top education publication in the country, and senators and their staffers will see the ad.

We’re also informing the media in their home states of how many local professors have signed on.

Click here to see the professors’ letter and chip in $3 to help cover the cost of the ad.

A new poll out today finds that the majority of Americans view former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden as a whistleblower, not a traitor. The poll also finds that a plurality of Americans think the government has gone too far in so-called “anti-terrorism efforts” like indiscriminate surveillance:

A majority of U.S. registered voters consider Edward Snowden a whistle-blower, not a traitor, and a plurality says government anti-terrorism efforts have gone too far in restricting civil liberties, aAi??pollAi??released today shows.

Fifty-five percent said Snowden was a whistle-blower in leaking details about top-secret U.S. programs that collect telephone and Internet data, in the survey from Hamden, Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University. Thirty-four percent said heai??i??s a traitor. Snowden, 30, worked for McLean, Virginia-based federal contractorAi??Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (BAH)

Thousands of people have donated to assist the legal defense of Edward Snowden. Donate at SnowdenLegalFund.com. Click here to chip in a few dollars to defend Snowden.

More than 1,000 college professors from 568 higher education institutions around the country haveAi??signed a letterAi??calling on Congress to pass legislation authored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that would dramatically lower interest rates on federal student loans […]Ai??The Progressive Change Campaign Committee will run the names of the professors with the letter in an ad (pictured below) in the print edition of Wednesday’s Chronicle of Higher Education, a national newspaper covering academia in the United States, ahead ofAi??a procedural vote in the SenateAi??on legislation that would bring the interest rate on new, subsidized Stafford loans back down to 3.4 percent for one year.

Last week, student loan rates doubled as Congress failed to come to an agreement to prevent rates from going up. Rates will now jump to around 6.8 percent.

This comes on top of already rapidly rising tuition rates. According to the Department of Education, the average cost of tuition, room, and board for a college student in the latest data available was $18,497 — $22,092 for students at four-year colleges.

But if students were in Ireland, they’d pay a lot less. To start with, they wouldn’t pay a penny in tuition, college is fully subsidized. They would be paying only for their room and board, and a small student fee at some schools (it was around 2,000 Euros average in 2011).

Americans pay more for their college than any comparable nation — something that has actually driven some students overseas to attend school, with 10,000 Americans seeking their education in Canada and 15,000 in the UK in 2012.

There have been some programs floated to reduce this burden on American students. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has floated a plan to reduce student loan interest rates to the same low rates Wall Street banks get from the Federal Reserve while Congress works on a more long-term solution. And lawmakers in Oregon are working on an innovative plan to make college tuition-free while students are attending and then have the students who went to four-year public universities pay back 3% of their future salaries over twenty years in order to fund college education (students at other schools like community college would pay less).

Weai??i??ve started a petition to support Warrenai??i??s bill. Click here to sign on and help us get started on ending the student debt crisis.

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